I am retired and have been doing a lot of hiking with my dog Kelley. Kelley has done all the peaks in Acadia National Park as well as those in Camden and the Donnell Pond and Monteville area. We have also done Big and Little Moose, Petit Manan and the Cutler Coast. We hope that other hikers will share hikes they have enjoyed.

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Friday, April 22, 2016

4/21/16 Hills to Sea Trail

It's spring ! 55 degrees when we started and 65 at the end - first shirt sleeve hiking this year.

We had not done this section before. We started from the college which has it's own trails one of which coincides with the Hills to Sea.

Still lots of water around

When we came to an intersection of trails and a snowmobile trail I did not see a blaze for our trail. We went on one section of the snowmobile trail which took us to a big field. We returned and this time took the Spruce Trail - that circled back to where we started. Next we took another fork of the snowmobile trail and eventually came to the spot where the trail we wanted crossed it.

Back on track - another section of wet trail

This section looked familiar - with fields on either side of a narrow strip of woods.

Next was a large field we had reached when we had hiked from the other end. Time to head back

When we came to the spot we had earlier picked up the trail we continued on the section we had not found near the start. It was well marked and I was curious as to where we would come out.

More water for Kelley

Old stump

When we got back to the college trails I saw where we had gone wrong and spotted the blaze I had missed - it was not in a direction I was expecting.

So, a mixed bag - confusion at the start and pretty wet trails but Kelley seemed to enjoy it - I think she likes new trails. Near the end ( on the college trails) we met some women with dogs and that pleased Kelley. The weather had been great. 2 hours, including false starts.

Kelley

Kelley was purchased along with two cats to be companions in a nursing home my wife owned. It became evident that she had a problem with her back legs and had pain. The vet said she had arthritis and she needed to lose weight and get lots of exercise so she came home and we gradually began hiking and put her on a diet. She improved to the point that she had no more pain and had an almost normal gait. When Mary left us we dealt with it by doing even more hiking and immersing ourselves in nature. Kelley did all of the peaks at Acadia as well as most others within a couple of hours of home. And I lost about 20 pounds. She loves to hike and will go as long as I will.

Kelley Update

A bit about how Kelley has been doing. You may be wondering why we are doing shorter and less strenuous hikes. In the story about Kelley above I indicate that the problem with her legs had pretty much been resolved. At the end of August last year I broke my ankle coming down from Dorr Mtn. and was not able to hike for 3 months and then we had a hard winter. This spring Kelley had a return of the arthritis problem in her back legs. She had to go back on medication and we could do little serious hiking. I think she lost some of the strength the vet thought was compensating for her problem. We have been building up the length of our hikes and Kelley is doing better and her medications have been cut way back. I am optimistic at this point that we will get back to the level we had reached before I broke my ankle.

Kelley Update II

Kelley has had a mixture of good days and not so good but overall is doing better. Today ( 10/17) we did a strenuous hike and she was happy and energetic and seems to have tolerated it well, showing no lameness when we got home. I continue to be optimistic - she loves the hiking so much.

Kelley Update 12/31/11

Kelley is doing well, hardly ever exhibits lameness or needs pain medication. She has been very excited the few times we got snow as she really loves to run in it. She seems also to have no problem with cold and is eager to be out in the woods whatever the weather.

1/24/12

Kelley continues to do well with slightly increased mileage. She seems better the more we do.

8/8/15 Update

It's been quite awhile between updates. Kelley is now 8 years old and does not seem to have the limberness she had achieved or the endurance. Occassionaly she lets me know she doesn't want to hike and we have a day off. We have also cut down the time per hike and I have been trying different times and hikes to find the best hikes/time so that she gets her needed exercise but doesn't overdo it. I wish she could talk. We still get out most days and right now an hour and a half seems about right but it's a continuing process.